We report the discovery of a new X-ray transient, XTE J1652-453. In two
RXTE PCA monitoring scans of the galactic ridge region on 2009-06-28 and
2009-07-01, a new point source was detected. A position fit to the scan
light curves gives a position, R.A. = 253.192, Dec. = -45.353, with
formal 95% uncertainties of about 2 arcminutes.

The 2-10 keV fluxes are 37 and 112 mCrab on the two respective
scan dates, suggesting a quickly rising flux. A pointed RXTE PCA
observation on 2009-07-02 at 14:20 UTC detected the source at a flux
of about 110 mCrab. The fluxes in the 2-10, 10-20 and 20-40 keV bands
were: 264, 6, 6, in units of 1e-11 erg/cm^2/s.

The spectrum is consistent with a black body (kT ~ 0.6 keV) and
power law (index 1.99), with an line feature at 6.4 keV (eq width 180
eV). About 90% of the flux is in the black body component. There are
no significant timing features in the power spectrum.

Swift BAT detects a source at a position consistent with the XTE
source, at a flux of about 10 mCrab (15-150 keV), starting around
2009-06-27.

The energy spectrum suggests a black hole candidate in a spectral
"high" state, which would be consistent with the lack of X-ray variability.